Helen McKendry says she has told police the names of those responsible for her
mother's death but officers told her her evidence is only hearsay

The daughter of Jean McConville, the woman dragged from her home and murdered by the IRA, says she has handed the names of those responsible for her mother's death to police.

But Helen McKendry, who was 15 when her mother was killed, said she had been told by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that her evidence could not be used as she did not see her mother's abductors and was therefore "simply hearsay".

Mrs McKendry, 57, is now calling on her younger brother Michael – who did see the faces of the gang of 12 men and women who burst into the family's flat in 1972 – to give the names to police.

Mr McConville has said he knows who the people were but is scared to tell police for fear of reprisals.

Yesterday, Sinn Fein said he had nothing to fear as "many families" had cooperated without suffering "intimidation" but Mr McConville said he was not prepared to inform for the sake his family.

Related Articles

Mrs McKendry said yesterday: "I have given the names but you have to remember I wasn't in the house so it is only hearsay and my brother won't give the names so the police can only work with what they have got.

"I want Michael to go to police. I would say to Micheal, what are you up afraid of? It is time to put that behind you and tell the police, you were there when it happened, give the names, don't be afraid anymore.

"I will fight until the day I die. Speak out for your mother, no one else can do it, only us."

Mrs McConville, a widow after her husband died of cancer, was dragged screaming from her children at the Divis flats in west Belfast.

The 37 year-old mother of 10 was taken down the stairs of the high-rise block, bundled into a van, and never seen again, wrongly suspected of informing to the security forces during the height of the conflict.

She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried – becoming one of the so called "Disappeared" victims of the Troubles. Her body was not found until 2003 on a beach in Co Louth, 50 miles from her home.

Six people, four men and two women, have been arrested in recent weeks in connection with the murder. They include Ivor Bell, 77, the ex IRA chief, and Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader.

Adams, 65, who faced a third night in custody last night, was arrested after he was named by a former IRA member as the man who ordered the killing.

Mrs McKendry said she had been advised not to give the names publicly amid fears those accused may leave the country but said she had given them to police on numerous occasions.

She those responsible continued to have "normal family lives" and included a "very well known" figure, echoing the words of her brother who has also said a "high profile" person was involved in the killing.

"The women involved have all had children and now have grandchildren, how can they look them in the eye knowing what they were involved in?

"Taking a mother of ten and killing her and destroying the lives of the children left behind."

A PSNI spokesman said: "As this is part of an ongoing investigation it would be inappropriate to comment".